Latch



Wlay 13., 1924. 1,493,573

N. A. STEFFEN y LATCH Fil'ed Feb. 24 1922 Afm/Loza@ A. @xy/fem.

Patented i3, i924-,

igdddi LATCH.

Application filed February 2c, 1922.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, NICHOLAS A. SrnrrnN, acitizen of the United States, residing at New Vienna., in the county ofDubuque and State of Iowa7 have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in hatches, of which the following is a. specification.

rI`his invention relates to latches and has for its object the provisionof a cheap, simple and efficient device which may be easily applied tothe doors of barns, animal pens, or similar structures, and which willeffectually hold the door in closed position but permit its readyopening from the outside whereby access may be had to animals confinedin a pen, for instance, but escape of the animals from the pen will beprevented. The invention is illustra-ted in the accompanying drawingsand will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings- Figure l is an elevation of my improved latch showingthe same in applied position;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.

In the drawings, the reference numeral l indicates a door and 2indicates a. portion of a door frame. in carrying out the invention, lsecure to the outer side of the door a latch pin consisting of a fiatbase plate 8 provided with spaced vertical slots 4i, through whichscrews or similar fastening decives 5 are inserted into the door, and acylindrical terminal pin or locking arm 6 which is adapted to ride intoengagement with a keeper provided upon the door frame. rlfhe keeperconsists of a bracket presenting a shelf 7 and a bracing portion 8extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer end of the shelf andterminating in a flat perforated lip 9 through which a fastening screwl() may be inserted into the door frame. Rising from the inner end ofthe shelf 7 is a back plate il which is preferably integral with theshelf and is perforated to permit the insertion of a securing screw l2into the door frame whereby the bracket will be firmly secured in place.At the upper end of the base plate is provided a forwardly projecting`arm 13 which is tapered and doubled upon itself as it leaves the backplate so as to provide the inverted lul-shaped terminal 14 within whichthe dog or keeper pin 15 is pivoted. This dog 15 is longer than thedistance between its pivot 16 and the shelf 7 so that normally the dogwill assume a rearwardly or in- Serial No. 538,862.

wardly inclined position, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, with its lower endresting upon the shelf but spaced forwardly from the back plate 1l. Thefree end of the dog is also expanded laterally, as shown at 17, wherebyin its operative position it will have an extended engagement with thelatch pin 6.

lft is thought the operation of the device will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings. The bracket is secured to the door frame adjacentthe edge thereof, as described and shown, and the latch is secured tothe door and adjusted vertically so that, when the door is closed, thelatch pin 6 will project over the shelf 7 close to the same but withoutbearing thereon, the vertical slots lpermitting the latch to be adjustedso that it will readily clear the shelf in the closing movement of thedoor and may also be set so as to coinpensate for sagging of the door.As indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, as the door is closed thepin 6 will ride against and under the dog which will be thereby swungupwardly so as to clear the pin and as soon as the pin has reached aposition back of the free end of the dog, which will occur when the dooris fully closed, the dog will7 through its own weight, return to itsposition and will be disposed in front of the pin so that the door willbe effectually held in the closed position. (Obviously, any outwardmovement of the door under pressure from the inside will be arrested bythe engagement of the'dog with the pin, but if it be desired to open thedoor from the outside, a slight pressure upon the under or forward sideof the dog will swing it upwardly so that the pin will be cleared andthe door may then be opened.

My device is obviously simple and inexpensive and may be readily appliedin operative position by an unskilled person.

Having. thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A door fastener comprising a latch consisting of a base plate adapted tobe secured against the outer side of a door, and a rigid cylindrical pinprojecting from the end of said base plate beyond the edge of the door.a bracket to be secured to a door frame and including a fiatapproximately horizontal shelf, a brace extending downwardly andinwardly from the outer end of the shelf,

a Het back plate rising from the rear edge of the shelll und anoverhanging arm projecting` forwardly from the upper end of said backplate, Said arm being folded longitudinally whereby to present aninverted U-shaped terminal at its front end, and a dog pivotally hung atits upper end Within said U-shaped terminal and held against lateralmovement thereby and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the pivot,its free end being square and normally resting upon the shelll andspaced from the back plate whereby the Cylindrical pin may ride upon theshelf and be' firmly retained between the square end of the dog and the15 back plate.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. NCHOLAS A. STEFFEN. [n e]

